Mosquito on my jeans, Heeswijk, Netherlands

One of hundreds encountered on this hot day in an overgrown field, with at least a few dozen managing to bite me. This one was trying to penetrate my jeans.

There are not that many species of mosquito in the Netherlands, so I'm hoping to get it identified. My guess is Aedes punctor, which is known to be abundant in our forests.

Hoping Christine sees this :)

comments (13)

Christine Young

Lion

What a beauty! I'm on my way to a hike right now and don't have time to look it up, but will later. I can definitely say it's Aedes sp. You're probably right with the species ID too. I'm not too familiar with skeeters in the Netherlands, but I am familiar with A. punctor and thought they had white "knees". I'll check it out for you later today :)

Sorry to hear so many of these punkwads bit you :/ Posted 7 years ago
1. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  No rush. Thanks so much in advance and enjoy the hike :) Posted 7 years ago
2. 1. Christine Young
    
    Lion
    
    Thanks - I would agree to the species being punctor. Looks like a good match. Oh, and I think the genus should probably be Ochlerotatus. Ochlerotatus used to be a subgenus of Aedes, but was upgraded to genus status and many of the Aedes species were transferred to Ochlerotatus based on genitalia details. Posted 7 years ago
  2. 1. Christine Young
      
      Lion
      
      Here are some links showing the taxonomy change for punctor from Aedes to Ochlerotatus:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ochlerotatus
      http://eol.org/pages/40015857/overview Posted 7 years ago
    2. 1. Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        Thanks so much for the ID and genus change, I also updated the genus of the existing species, which was only one :)
        
        https://www.jungledragon.com/wildlife/browse/animalia/arthropoda/insecta/diptera/culicidae/ochlerotatus Posted 7 years ago
      2. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        Great! We need more mosquitoes on JD! I will try to catch some this summer :)
        
        Mind if I update the info (description, etc.) for Oc. punctor on the species page? Posted 7 years ago
        
        Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        Good luck with the catch, if they don't catch you first :)
        Of course I would not mind a better species description, sorry for the lazy one created now, have to divide my time across many tasks.
        
        No need to ask, ever. Many species records have minimal data, you are free to enrich them as you please. Posted 7 years ago
        
        Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        Thanks! I'm going to make a mosquito trap in a couple weeks and see if I can get any interesting ones :)
        
        I'll update the info. Mosquito features can be tedious to describe, but I find it fun :) Posted 7 years ago
        
        Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        What's the bait inside the trap? Blood? Posted 7 years ago
        
        Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        Lol, eww. No. The bait is a stinky infusion of dry oak leaves and yeast. Pine needles or hay can be used as well, but I prefer oak. It smells super bad after 5-10 days in a sealed bucket. The infusion attracts mosquitoes looking to breed, gravid females, etc. It's best used in combination with a small light and a fan trap, but I'm going to try to MacGyver my own version. Posted 7 years ago
        
        Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        +1 for MacGyver, that man made such an impact that we use it across the pond as well :) Posted 7 years ago
        
        Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        Oh wanted to share this gorgeous video, hope you haven't seen it before:
        
        Posted 7 years ago
        
        Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        I had not seen it before! Awesome video! I used to put mosquito pupae under the microscope when the adults were ready to emerge. I never got tired of watching the process. So cool! Thanks for sharing this beautiful video :) Posted 7 years ago